Automatic generation of image-based print product offering

ABSTRACT

A method for generating and displaying a print product offering including a plurality of digital images is provided. In one aspect the method comprises: generating a group of digital images from the plurality of digital images; classifying each of the digital images within the group based on at least one image quality parameter that includes an average image quality based on at least one characteristic of the digital images; selecting only the digital images in the group which conform to the image quality parameter for inclusion in the print product offering; providing a pre-developed electronic image product layout including a plurality of virtual orifices; populating the plurality of virtual orifices with only the digital images which conform to the image quality parameter to provide an image product template design; and displaying the image product template design as the print product offering on a display of a computing device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/069,164, filed Oct. 13, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,354,717, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/189,487, filedJun. 22, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,803,505, which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to a system and method forautomatically generating a print product offering incorporating one ormore digital images; in particular, the system and method is directed toautomatically generating a print product offering using a plurality ofuploaded digital images based on one or more image quality parameters,such as, but not limited to total data transfer sizes, data transferrate, average image size, or total upload time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One method of generating an image-based print order is through the useof a photo lab computing device, such as a kiosk. A kiosk is typicallylocated within a mass retail store, supermarket, drug store, or otherconvenient locations, and allows a customer to upload one or moredigital images and generate a print order to manufacture a printproduct, such as a photo gift. Additional print product offerings mayalso be automatically created, displayed to the customer, and madeavailable as an additional print order for upsell purposes (i.e., upsellproducts) as a stand-alone order, to supplement the customer generatedprint order, or as an upgrade or other type of add-on to the printproduct that is the subject of the customer generated print order. Theprint products identified in the selected print orders can then befulfilled by a product finishing device within the kiosk itself, or by afinishing device in communication with the kiosk through a network, suchas the Internet. The finishing device may be located in close proximityto the kiosk or at a remote location.

In order to generate a print order that is related to a photobook, forexample, a plurality of digital images may need to be uploaded to thekiosk. In order to do so, customers need to save each digital image on aportable data storage device, such as a thumb drive, smart phone, ormemory card, prior to connecting the portable data storage device to themedia drive of the kiosk and uploading each digital image. Another wayto upload the digital images is by using a print product orderingwebsite made available over the Internet. In using an ordering website,a plurality of digital images are uploaded to a data storage serverthrough the website by one or more users. The digital images may then becommunicated to the kiosk through the network when they are uploaded.

When finalizing the print order for the selected print product, usersmay be required to review and edit their print order through a series ofsteps such as, for example, previewing their uploaded digital images,verifying that the uploaded digital images are a sufficient qualityand/or size, sorting the digital images by populating a product templatein a desired sequence and positioning, and customizing the producttemplate to fit the user's specific needs. However, this methodology isoften inconvenient and inefficient for users because it requires them tospend valuable time and energy making many unwanted, tedious decisionswhich come with reviewing, analyzing, and determining image quality andplacement, so as to ensure the fulfillment of their print product willturn out as desired. This inconvenience may deter users from generatingprint orders because they may not be qualified to make thesedeterminations properly through a kiosk display, or end up removingdigital images that would otherwise be incorporated into the printproduct.

To address this issue, image organizing modules have been developed andincorporated into kiosks and other print ordering platforms to makegeneration of a print order more convenient and efficient. These modulesgenerally remove steps on the part of the user by attempting todetermine the quality of uploaded digital images to determine if a printproduct offering is suitable and able to be generated. In order to doso, existing organizing modules depend on a predetermined image checkingparameter, namely the total number of images uploaded to determine if aprint product offering, such as a photobook, is able to be generated.For example, if a total of ten digital images are uploaded, by acustomer, and the organizing module determines that this meets orexceeds a predetermined threshold, then the organizing module wouldgenerate and display a print product offering to the customer. However,using the total number of images uploaded is not necessarily indicativeof the image quality of each of the uploaded digital images, andtherefore may not result in a print product offering that includesdigital images of the quality required to fulfill the print productbeing offered to the customer by the organizing module.

What is needed is a system and method by which a print product offeringis automatically generated and displayed to the customer, so as to maketheir experience efficient, convenient, and encouraging of similarfuture experiences. What is further needed is a system and method bywhich a print product offering is generated based on one or more imagequality parameters that are indicative of digital image quality, whichthereby results in a better quality print product. The present inventionfulfills these needs as well as other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention is directed to acomputer-implemented method of generating and displaying a print productoffering including a plurality of digital images using a photo labcomputing device comprising a memory and a processor. The method,utilizing the processor, comprises the steps of: providing a pluralityof digital images stored in the memory; generating a group of digitalimages from the plurality of digital images; classifying each of thedigital images within the group based on at least one image qualityparameter, wherein the at least one image quality parameter includes anaverage image quality based on at least one characteristic of thedigital images; selecting only the digital images in the group whichconform to the at least one image quality parameter for inclusion in theprint product offering, wherein the at least one image quality parameteris predetermined so that the selected digital images are of sufficientquality to be included in the print product offering; providing apre-developed electronic image product layout including a plurality ofvirtual orifices; populating the plurality of virtual orifices with onlythe digital images which conform to the at least one image qualityparameter to provide an image product template design; and displayingthe image product template design as the print product offering on adisplay of the photo lab computing device. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having thereon computer-executable instructionsfor performing the computer-implemented method is also provided.

In another aspect, a computer-implemented system for generating anddisplaying a print product offering including a plurality of digitalimages is provided. The system comprises a photo lab computing devicecomprising a memory, a processor, and a display. A plurality of digitalimages are stored in the memory, and the memory has an image organizingmodule stored therein. The image organizing module utilizes theprocessor to: a) generate a group of digital images from the pluralityof digital images; b) classify each of the digital images within thegroup based on at least one image quality parameter, wherein the atleast one image quality parameter includes an average image qualitybased on at least one characteristic of the digital images; c) selectonly the digital images in the group which conform to the at least oneimage quality parameter for inclusion in the print product offering,wherein the at least one image quality parameter is predetermined by theimage organizing module so that the selected digital images are ofsufficient quality to be included in the print product offering; d)provide a pre-developed electronic image product layout including aplurality of virtual orifices; e) populate the plurality of virtualorifices with only the digital images which conform to the at least oneimage quality parameter to provide an image product template design; andf) display the image product template design as the print productoffering on the display of the photo lab computing device.

Additional objects, advantages and novel aspects of the presentinvention will be set forth in part in the description which follows,and will in part become apparent to those in the practice of theinvention, when considered with the attached figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention,and the manner of attaining them, will become apparent and be betterunderstood by reference to the following description of the invention inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram generally illustrating an exemplary computingenvironment in which an aspect of the invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a system in which an aspect of thepresent invention may be incorporated; and

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram for generating a print product offering inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the tools and methods described herein may be implemented inhardware, software or a combination thereof. As will be described inmore detail below, the present invention is directed to a system andmethod for automatically generating and displaying a print productoffering including a plurality of digital images based on an imagequality parameter. In general, the method comprises the steps ofproviding a photo lab computing device comprising a memory, wherein aplurality of digital images are stored in the memory; generating a groupof digital images from the plurality of digital images; classifying eachof the digital images within the group based on at least one imagequality parameter; selecting one or more of the digital images in thegroup which conform to the at least one image quality parameter;generating an image product template design including the digital imageswhich conform to the at least one image quality parameter; anddisplaying the image product template design as a print productoffering. Exemplary details relating to the implementation of theabove-referenced method will be described in more detail below.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary computingenvironment 100 that may be used to implement any of the processingdescribed herein (e.g., photo lab computing device 113 such as a kiosk,third party computing device 166 such as a mobile computing device,tablet, or desktop computer). Computing environment 100 may include oneor more computers 112 comprising a system bus 124 that couples a videointerface 126, network interface 128, a keyboard/mouse interface 134,and a system memory 136 to a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 138. Adisplay 140 is connected to bus 124 by video interface 126 and providesa user 125 (FIG. 2) with a graphical user interface (GUI) to view,select and order the images as image effects (e.g., print orderoffering, such as a photobook). The GUI allows the user to entercommands and information into computer 112 using a keyboard 141 and auser interface selection device 143, such as a mouse or other pointingdevice. Keyboard 141 and user interface selection device are connectedto bus 124 through keyboard/mouse interface 134. Other peripheraldevices may be connected through a media drive 145 such as, for example,a universal serial bus (USB) drive to transfer information to and fromcomputer 112. For example, flash memory devices (e.g., compact flash,memory stick/PRO and DUO, SD card, multimedia card, smart media xD card)may be connected to computer 112 through serial port 132, media drive145, or to bus 124 through other equivalent ports so that datarepresentative of one or more digital images, or other digital contentmay be downloaded to memory 136 or another memory storage deviceassociated with computer 112 such that the images may be subsequentlydisplayed as an image effect of a design template comprising the imageson display 140, generated into a print order offering, a print order,and/or manufactured as a print product by one or more finishing devices142 a, 142 b (FIG. 2). The digital images may moreover be provided bycapturing a digital picture using a camera, camcorder, or some otherimage capture device.

The system memory 136 is also connected to bus 124 and may include readonly memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), an operating system 144,a basic input/output system (BIOS) 146, application modules 148 (e.g.,image organizing module) and program data 150. The computer 112 mayfurther include a hard disk drive 152 for reading from and writing to ahard disk, a magnetic disk drive 154 for reading from and writing to aremovable magnetic disk (e.g., floppy disk), and an optical disk drive156 for reading from and writing to a removable optical disk (e.g., CDROM or other optical media). The computer 112 may also include a scanner158 for scanning items such as still image photographs to be downloadedto computer 112. A hard disk drive interface 152 a, magnetic disk driveinterface 154 a, an optical drive interface 156 a, a USB drive interface145 a, and a scanner interface 158 a operate to connect bus 124 to harddisk drive 152, magnetic disk drive 154, optical disk drive 156, mediadrive 145 and scanner 158, respectively. Each of these drive componentsand their associated computer-readable media may provide computer 112with non-volatile storage of computer-readable instruction, programmodules, data structures, application programs, an operating system, andother data for computer 112. In addition, it will be understood thatcomputer 112 may also utilize other types of computer-readable media inaddition to those types set forth herein, such as digital video disks,random access memory, read only memory, other types of flash memorycards, magnetic cassettes, and the like. Digital images may alsotherefore be provided from hard disk drive 152 or other data optical ormagnetic storage devices, or accessed through the network 102 from animage-based print product ordering website (FIG. 2) in connection with adata storage server 160 (FIG. 2), as will be described in more detailbelow.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, one aspect of the present inventionincludes a system 101 for generating and displaying a print productoffering through a photo lab computing device 113, such as, for example,a kiosk. As stated above, photo lab computing device 113 may generallyincorporate hardware such as one or more finishing devices 142 a and 142b, modem 163, display 140 (e.g. monitor), USB port 145, scanner 158, andmemory 136. Memory 136 is configured to store, among other things, animage organizing module 148 which may be embodied as a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions toperform the processing described herein. Photo lab computing device 113may be connected to a network 102, such as the Internet, viacommunication line 162 via the modem 163 or network interface 128. Thefinishing devices 142 a, 142 b may be incorporated within photo labcomputing device 113, or located in a remote location, such as afulfillment center (not shown), and be in communication with each otherusing network 102. It should be understood that network 102 may be awide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), or other type ofnetwork that is in the form of wired or wireless connection, such as aWi-Fi network. The fulfillment center may be, for example, a mass retailstore or a drug store.

Each of the finishing devices 142 a, 142 b may be a printing device thatis configured for manufacturing a print product that incorporates one ormore digital images associated with a print order. A print product canbe any type of good that has a selected digital image printed thereon,such as, for example, photographic print, photobook, calendar, mug,poster, T-shirt, mouse pad, quilt, gift cards, canvas prints and thelike. When a print order incorporates a large number of digital images,for instance, the digital images may highlight a certain event acrosstemporal boundaries (e.g., weddings, parties, ceremonies, etc.). Whenthe print order is a photo book, it may include a front and back coverpage and one or more internal image pages which include at least oneincorporated digital image. Each cover page may also include its ownunique digital image. Given the wide variety of print products that maybe produced, system 113 may include a plurality of different types offinishing devices 142 a, 142 b, etc. each of which being capable ofmanufacturing the print products.

Each finishing device 142 a, 142 b is configured for receiving the printorder from the photo lab computing device 113 and in turn manufacturingthe print product using information contained or referenced in the printorder, including but not limited to the digital images uploaded by thecustomer, and other aspects of the print product specified by thecustomer. While FIG. 2 shows each finishing device 142 a, 142 bconnected to photo lab computing device 113 via the system bus 124, itshould be understood that each finishing device 142 a, 142 b maydirectly receive the print order through network 102 via communicationline 162. Further, the processor of computer 113 may be in communicationwith each of the finishing devices 142 a, 142 b, and configured forcommunicating the print order to the appropriate finishing device 142 a,142 b depending on the capabilities of the finishing device 142 a, 142 band contents of the print order. As such, computer 113 may serve as acentral hub for the plurality of finishing devices 142 a, 142 b, etc.,thereby providing an arrangement where the plurality of finishingdevices are transparent to the customer so that the customer appears tobe dealing with a single finishing device to simplify the system fromthe customer's perspective.

System 101 may also include an image-based print product orderingwebsite 164 (i.e., ordering website) in communication with network 102.Ordering website 164 allows a user 125 (e.g., customer) to uploaddigital images to the website 164 via a third-party computing device166. Ordering website 164 is then able to communicate the digital imagesto photo lab computing device 113 via the network 102. Ordering website164 may further include an electronic sharing folder 168 which isaccessible by more than one user 125 from various computing devices 166.When each user 125 uploads base digital images in folder 168, all userswith access to folder 168 may use, modify, copy and/or remove these basedigital images and communicate each to photo lab computing device 113. Adata storage server 160 may also be in communication with orderingwebsite 164 via network 102 to provide any one or more of a variety offunctions including serving as a web server, data store, and applicationserver and/or provide other services that will provide photo labcomputing device 113 with access to base digital images uploaded byordering website 164, or provide a storage location for base digitalimages for future use.

It should be understood that third-party computing device 166 may be anytype of smart phone, mobile computing device, tablet, or desktopcomputer that is capable of displaying digital images and communicatingwith photo lab computing device 113 through network 102 usingcommunication line 162 or directly using communication line 162 a. Incertain instances, computing device 166 may include one or moreapplication modules (non-transitory computer-readable mediums havingcomputer-executable instructions) that operate to allow user 125 tocapture, save, and/or edit digital images in a memory storage 170 ofcomputing device 166 or by a third party (e.g., ordering website 168)that provides for the storage of digital images, such as data storageserver 160. For example, INSTAGRAM® and IPHOTO® are two such mobileapplications that allow for this functionality. Instead of usingthird-party computing device 166, it should be understood that a thumbdrive may be used to transfer digital images to photo lab computingdevice 113 using USB drive 145, or a printed image may be scanned usinga scanner 158 thereby directly communicating image data to photo labcomputing device 113.

As stated above, image organizing module 148 is stored in system memory136, and operates to assist in generating and displaying the printproduct offering using photo lab computing device 113. As best shownwith particular reference to FIG. 3, the computer implements thealgorithmic method of generating and displaying the print productoffering using image organizing module 148 comprises optional step 300to begin preparation of the print product offering by accessing systemmemory 136 which includes a plurality of digital images which have beenuploaded and stored in the system memory 136. The plurality of digitalimages may include one or more digital images stored in the systemmemory 136 by user 125, regardless of whether such digital images wereselected by user 125 to be included in a print product that is thesubject of another print order or not. The method further includesgenerating a group which includes the plurality of uploaded digitalimages, at step 302.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the method furthercomprises step 304 which provides for classifying each digital imagewithin the group, or the group as a whole, based on at least one imagequality parameter, wherein the classification includes determiningwhether either conforming or not conforming to the at least one imagequality parameter. The image quality parameter is defined as any type ofmetric(s) that is indicative of the quality of the respective digitalimage, including, but not limited to, image quality (sharpness,brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.), image size (dimensionsrepresented by pixels and scan lines), image file size (compressedand/or uncompressed), data transfer rates, data transfer durations,image content (e.g., faces, buildings, other classifications), imagecharacteristics and measurements (e.g., image organizer scores)). Theimage quality parameter may be a predetermined parameter or a parameterthat is dynamic depending on one or more characteristics of each digitalimage or the group of digital images.

For example, the image quality parameter may be based on the file sizeof each digital image that was uploaded from a device 166 connected tomedia drive 145 (e.g., smart phone, flash memory devices, etc.), from aprinted image that is scanned in using scanner 158, or transferred fromdata storage server 160 to system memory 136 of photo lab computingdevice 113. If, for example, the file size for a particular digitalimage is above a certain minimum image file size (for example, but notlimited to, 2 MB), it is presumed that this digital image is ofsufficient quality to be included in the print product offering.Further, the image quality parameter may be based on the cumulative filesize of the entire group of digital images as being greater than apredetermined minimum file size (for example, but not limited to, 10MB), wherein the group of digital images as a whole must be greater thanor equal to the predetermined minimum file size in order for the printproduct offering to be generated and displayed. Also, the image qualityparameter may be based on an average image file size, wherein theaverage image file size for the digital images that are uploaded iscalculated, followed by selecting those digital images that are equal toor greater than the average image file size. This aspect is based on thepremise that if each digital image or the group meets or exceeds a filesize threshold, the digital images are of a certain minimum quality(e.g., resolution) to generate and display a print product offering thatcan in turn be fulfilled as a quality print product.

In another example, the predetermined image quality parameter may bebased on the data transfer rate of the digital image being transferredfrom device 166 connected to media drive 145, or the data transfer rateof the digital image being transferred from data storage server 160 tosystem memory 136 of photo lab computing device 113, which may coverboth the internal rate and/or the external rate as well as measured as adisk-to-buffer rate or buffer-to-computer rate. This data transfer ratemay be expressed as the data signaling rate (DSR) being the aggregaterate determined by the average number of bits per second (bit/s) and maybe determined by an electronic component or application module at anypoint along signal bus 124. The DSR may also be calculated by theaverage number of bytes, average number of characters or symbols (baudrate), average number of blocks or frames, each of which passing fromtheir respective storage (e.g., flash drive) unit to system memory 136,and may also be calculated over any period of time (e.g., minutes,hours, etc.). The formula for a data transfer rate may be the: channelwidth (bits/transfer)×transfers/second=bits transferred/second, butother applicable formulas may be used as known by those skilled in theart. In certain instances, this data transfer rate may be calculated astransfers per second (i.e., the number of operations transferring datathat occur in each second) or hence the sample rate (i.e., number ofdata samples captured per second) through an applicable formula. Itshould be further understood that at least part of the informationregarding this data transfer rate may be incorporated into the imageproperty of a respective digital image as a tag, keyword, title, ormetadata.

In another example, the image quality parameter may also be based on thetime duration of data transfer. Similar to the data transfer ratecalculations, discussed above, the time duration of data transfer issimply the measurement of the time required to complete the datatransfer from device 166 connected to media drive 145, or data storageserver 160 to system memory 136 of photo lab computing device 113. Thetime duration of the data transfer can be based on each individualdigital image in the group, or the time duration of the data transfer ofthe entire group of digital images. It should be understood that atleast part of the information regarding this data transfer rate may beincorporated into the image property of a particular digital image as atag, keyword, title, or metadata.

In a further example, the image quality parameter may be based on theaverage image quality, which is determined by the image organizingmodule 148 based on certain characteristics of each digital image, suchas, but not limited to, sharpness, brightness, contrast, saturation,etc. In one aspect, image organizing module 148 may provide an originalscore to the digital image based upon these characteristics. Once alldigital images are provided an original score, an aggregate score iscalculated based upon each of these original scores. The aggregate scoremay be one of the statistical mean, median, or mode of these originalscores. A scaled score is then calculated and provided for each digitalimage by subtracting its original score from the aggregate score. Thedigital image with the highest scaled score indicates that its imagesquality is better that the image quality of the other digital imagesthat were evaluated using this method. Using this method, the method maybe used to generate the print product offering using the digital imageswith a scaled score that is above a certain mean, median, or mode of thescaled scores, for example. Each step in calculating the scaled scoresmay be conducted as at least a part of an algorithmic method of anapplication module incorporated into system memory 136. It should beunderstood that information regarding the scaled score and other imagequality characteristics may be incorporated into the image property ofeach digital image as a tag, keyword, title, or metadata.

The method further includes either selecting images in the group whichsatisfy the limitations based upon the image quality parameter, orremoving digital images from the group that fall outside limitationsbased upon the image quality parameter, at step 306. As indicated above,such limitations may be a predetermined data transfer rate number, datatransfer time duration number, image file size, image size, or scaledscore number. For example, image organizing module 148 may be programedto incorporate a data transfer rate number of 1500 MB/s. As such, imageorganizing module 148 would be programmed to remove any digital imageshaving a data transfer rate of less than 1500 MB/s since this datatransfer rate falls outside the image quality parameter. Imageorganizing module 148 would therefore remove those digital images fromthe group and return them back to system memory 136 or completely erasethe digital images from computer 112.

The method further comprises step 308 of generating an image producttemplate having a design which is generally representative of thedigital images within the group conforming to the quality parameterlimitations. The template design is generally a pre-developed electronicimage product layout that has been created and stored in imageorganizing module 148 or system memory 136 and used to make new imageproducts including the digital images within the group that meet theimage quality parameter. As generally selected by user 125 orautomatically selected by image organizing module 148, the template maybe formatted as any print product ultimately produced by finishers 142a, 142 b, such as those discussed above, for example, photographicprint, calendar, mug, poster, T-shirt, mouse pad, quilt, photobook andthe like. Moreover, such templates may comprise a plurality of virtualorifices (not shown) in which a respective digital image may bepositioned or incorporated either automatically by image organizingmodule 148 or by user 125. For example, if user 125 selects to generatea photobook, for example, image organizing module 148 may populate eachorifice with a respective, designated digital image from the group. Onceall digital images have been placed in their respective orifice, imageorganizing module 148 may then tailor the template accordingly. In thisstep, image organizing module 148 may also provide a specific design tothe template. As such, when the template is a photobook, for example,image organizing module 148 may provide the portions of the templatebordering one or more orifices with a color corresponding to that mostfound in the digital images. In another example, image organizing module148 may provide these orifice surrounding portions with the imagesubstance or a pattern found in one of the digital images. Other designexamples may even include all orifice surrounding portions of thetemplate to remain unfilled or colorless/blank.

The method further comprises displaying the template design as a printproduct offering on display 140, at step 310. As such, image organizingmodule 148 may provide the populated template and corresponding designdirectly via system bus 124 or indirectly via system memory 136. Imageorganizing module 148 may otherwise provide the populated template andcorresponding design to another application module within system memory136 before the template and design are provided to display 140. Onceprovided, a GUI image effect of the populated template and correspondingdesign can be viewed by one or more users 125. This image effect may bein two dimensions or three dimensions, or any other artifact whichadequately depicts the populated template and corresponding printproduct offering for the user 125.

The method comprises the optional step 312, which allows user 125 toreorganize at least one digital image within the displayed print productoffering. Here, user 125 may enter one or more commands into computer113 that rearranges the digital images in the template by generallyremoving certain digital images or moving certain digital images fromone orifice to another. In essence, user 125 is given an opportunity tocustomize the template design before it is incorporated into a printorder.

The method further comprises step 314, which allows for the templatedesign to be included within a print order. In order to do so, imageorganizing module 148 typically compiles the computer-executableinstructions which embody the template design and transforms theseinstructions into ones that can be received and read as print orders bythe appropriate finishing device 142 a, 142 b. As explained above, oncedesignated as a print order, the appropriate finishing device 142 a, 142b may analyze the instructions to manufacture a print product.

While an exemplary machine-algorithm method for image organizing module148 has been described above and with reference to the figures above, itwill be understood that certain exemplary embodiments may change theorder of steps of the algorithmic method or may even eliminate or modifycertain steps.

The constructions described above and illustrated in the drawings arepresented by way of example only and are not intended to limit theconcepts and principles of the present invention. As used herein, theterms “having” and/or “including” and other terms of inclusion are termsindicative of inclusion rather than requirements.

While the invention has been described with reference to preferredembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof to adapt to particular situations without departingfrom the scope of the invention. Therefore, it is intended that theinvention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as thebest mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that theinvention will include all embodiments falling within the scope andspirit of the appended claims.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the inventionhas been presented for the purpose of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive nor is it intended to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. It will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments may be modified inlight of the above teachings. The embodiments described are chosen toprovide an illustration of principles of the invention and its practicalapplication to enable thereby one of ordinary skill in the art toutilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.Therefore, the foregoing description is to be considered exemplary,rather than limiting, and the true scope of the invention is thatdescribed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of generating anddisplaying a print product offering including a plurality of digitalimages using a photo lab computing device comprising a memory and aprocessor, the method utilizing the processor comprising the steps of:providing a plurality of digital images stored in the memory; generatinga group of digital images from the plurality of digital images;classifying each of the digital images within the group based on atleast one image quality parameter, wherein the at least one imagequality parameter includes an average image quality based on at leastone characteristic of the digital images; selecting only the digitalimages in the group which conform to the at least one image qualityparameter for inclusion in the print product offering, wherein the atleast one image quality parameter is predetermined so that the selecteddigital images are of sufficient quality to be included in the printproduct offering; providing a pre-developed electronic image productlayout including a plurality of virtual orifices; populating theplurality of virtual orifices with only the digital images which conformto the at least one image quality parameter to provide an image producttemplate design; and displaying the image product template design as theprint product offering on a display of the photo lab computing device.2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one imagequality parameter further includes an average image file size, whereinthe average image file size is calculated by taking a sum of an imagefile size of each of the digital images in the group of digital imagesand dividing the sum by a total number of the digital images in thegroup of digital images, and wherein the digital images that areselected from the group as conforming to the at least one image qualityparameter have image file sizes that are greater than or equal to theaverage image file size.
 3. The method in accordance with claim 1,wherein the at least one image quality parameter further includes apredetermined minimum file size, wherein a cumulative file size of thegroup of digital images as a whole must be greater than or equal to thepredetermined minimum file size in order for the image product templatedesign to be displayed.
 4. The method in accordance with claim 1,wherein the at least one image quality parameter further includes apredetermined data transfer rate compared to a data transfer rate upontransferring the plurality of digital images into the memory of thephoto lab computing device, and wherein the digital images that areselected from the group as conforming to the at least one image qualityparameter have data transfer rates that are greater than or equal to thepredetermined data transfer rate.
 5. The method in accordance with claim1, wherein the at least one image quality parameter further includes aminimum image size for each of the plurality of digital images, whereinthe minimum image size corresponds to at least one of a number of pixelsor scan lines.
 6. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the atleast one image quality parameter further includes a predeterminedamount of time compared with a time duration of data transfer upontransferring the plurality of digital images into the memory of thephoto lab computing device, and wherein the digital images that areselected from the group as conforming to the at least one image qualityparameter have time durations of data transfer that are greater than orequal to the predetermined amount of time.
 7. The method in accordancewith claim 1, further comprising the steps of: determining an originalimage quality score for each of the digital images based on the at leastone characteristic; calculating an aggregate image quality score for thegroup of digital images based on the original image quality scoresdetermined for each of the digital images; comparing each of theoriginal image quality scores for each of the digital images with theaggregate image quality score for the group of digital images; andselecting one or more of the digital images in the group for inclusionin the print product offering based on the comparison of the originalimage quality scores with the aggregate image quality score.
 8. Themethod in accordance with claim 7, further comprising the steps of:calculating a scaled image quality score for each of the digital imagesbased on a difference between the aggregate image quality score of thegroup of digital images and the original image quality score of each ofthe digital images; and selecting only the digital images in the groupas conforming to the average image quality having scaled image qualityscores that are greater than or equal to a certain mean, median, or modeof the scaled image quality scores.
 9. The method in accordance withclaim 8, wherein the at least one characteristic of the digital imageson which the average image quality is based includes at least one ofsharpness, brightness, contrast, or saturation.
 10. The method inaccordance with claim 1, further comprising the step of allowing for theprint product offering to be included in a print order for fulfillmentas a print product.
 11. The method in accordance with claim 10, furthercomprising: providing a finishing device in communication with the photolab computing device; receiving the print order at the finishing device;and manufacturing the print product identified in the print order usingthe finishing device.
 12. The method in accordance with claim 1, whereinthe photo lab computing device is a kiosk.
 13. The method in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the memory of the photo lab computing device is aremote memory accessible through a network.
 14. The method in accordancewith claim 1, further comprising: providing an image-based photoordering website in communication with the photo lab computing devicethrough a network; and allowing the plurality of digital images to beuploaded to the memory of the photo lab computing device through theimage-based photo ordering website.
 15. The method in accordance withclaim 1, further comprising allowing for one or more of the digitalimages included in the image product template design to be reorganized.16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having thereoncomputer-executable instructions for performing a computer-implementedmethod for generating and displaying a print product offering includinga plurality of digital images using a photo lab computing devicecomprising a memory and a processor, and wherein a plurality of digitalimages are stored in the memory, the method utilizing the processorcomprising the steps of: generating a group of digital images from theplurality of digital images; classifying each of the digital imageswithin the group based on at least one image quality parameter, whereinthe at least one image quality parameter includes an average imagequality based on at least one characteristic of the digital images;selecting only the digital images in the group which conform to the atleast one image quality parameter for inclusion in the print productoffering, wherein the at least one image quality parameter ispredetermined so that the selected digital images are of sufficientquality to be included in the print product offering; providingpre-developed electronic image product layout including a plurality ofvirtual orifices; populating the plurality of virtual orifices with onlythe digital images which conform to the at least one image qualityparameter to provide an image product template design; and displayingthe image product template design as the print product offering photolab computing device.
 17. The computer-readable medium in accordancewith claim 16, wherein the at least one characteristic of the digitalimages on which the average image quality is based includes at least oneof sharpness, brightness, contrast, or saturation, and wherein themethod utilizing the processor further comprises the steps of:determining an original image quality score for each of the digitalimages based on the at least one characteristic; calculating anaggregate image quality score for the group of digital images based onthe original image quality scores determined for each of the digitalimages; calculating a scaled image quality score for each of the digitalimages based on a difference between the aggregate image quality scoreof the group of digital images and the original image quality score ofeach of the digital images; and selecting only the digital images in thegroup as conforming to the average image quality having scaled imagequality scores that are greater than or equal to a certain mean, median,or mode of the scaled image quality scores.
 18. A computer-implementedsystem for generating and displaying a print product offering includinga plurality of digital images, the system comprising: a photo labcomputing device comprising a memory, a processor, and a display,wherein a plurality of digital images are stored in the memory, andwherein the memory has an image organizing module stored therein,wherein the image organizing module utilizes the processor to: a)generate a group of digital images from the plurality of digital images;b) classify each of the digital images within the group based on atleast one image quality parameter, wherein the at least one imagequality parameter includes an average image quality based on at leastone characteristic of the digital images; c) select only the digitalimages in the group which conform to the at least one image qualityparameter for inclusion in the print product offering, wherein the atleast one image quality parameter is predetermined by the imageorganizing module so that the selected digital images are of sufficientquality to be included in the print product offering; d) provide apre-developed electronic image product layout including a plurality ofvirtual orifices; e) populate the plurality of virtual orifices withonly the digital images which conform to the at least one image qualityparameter to provide an image product template design; and f) displaythe image product template design as the print product offering on thedisplay of the photo lab computing device.
 19. The system according toclaim 18, wherein the at least one characteristic of the digital imageson which the average image quality is based includes at least one ofsharpness, brightness, contrast, or saturation, and wherein the imageorganizing module further utilizes the processor to: determine anoriginal image quality score for each of the digital images based on theat least one characteristic; calculate an aggregate image quality scorefor the group of digital images based on the original image qualityscores determined for each of the digital images; calculate a scaledimage quality score for each of the digital images based on a differencebetween the aggregate image quality score of the group of digital imagesand the original image quality score of each of the digital images; andselecting only the digital images in the group as conforming to theaverage image quality having scaled image quality scores that aregreater than or equal to a certain mean, median, or mode of the scaledimage quality scores.